My Mini-Retreat

The idea for this started almost a year ago when ‘browsing’ on Travelocity, and I noticed this place to stay at Lake Tahoe, that seemed very nice, had good reviews, and was INEXPENSIVE  (Three Peaks Resort and Beach Club.)  So I thought to myself, that would be a nice place to go for a little spiritual retreat.  Plus, I noticed they allowed pets.  And I thought, August would be a nice time to go, because by then I am really getting tired of the heat around here.  I keep mentioning Lake Tahoe in recent posts, and I presume everyone knows about it.  But if anyone doesn’t know, it is a beautiful lake in the high sierras.  Wikipedia says it is the largest alpine lake in North America!

So, time went on, and I didn’t really plan for it, but after my week of Inertia, I decided this would be a good thing for me.  And it really was.  Originally, in my mind, it was only to be a spiritual retreat–take my Bible, my journal, and a good book, and spend time talking to and listening to God.  But I have been doing okay in this department lately, and since my creativity is linked to my life with God (He made me creative) I decided I would also bring a stack of quilting fabric that I had been wanting to work with, and only my hand-sewing kit.  I was feeling kinda ‘blocked’ in my quilting lately, and thought maybe this would get me moving in the right direction.  Plus, I decided that ‘fitness’ was not to be the main goal, but could still be included.  It seems only natural when you are in such a beautiful place to spend some time outdoors enjoying His creation.

So, I planned to skip church Sunday morning in order to get a good start on the day.  I was only going to stay one night, but if I left Sunday morning, and came home Monday night, it would be more like two whole days to me.  But since I really don’t like skipping church, I decided to listen to Francis Chan on my computer before I left.  He is such an inspirational speaker, it was a great start to the day.  On my drive up Hwy. 88 (which is a gorgeous drive to Tahoe, if any of you don’t know about it) I listened to my favorite Christian pop group Phillips, Craig, and Dean.  I just love these guys.  It was a great time of enjoying God’s creation and praising him ‘At the Top of My Lungs’ (P,C, & D’s current CD.)

We (me and Oliver the practically perfect black Standard Poodle) arrived at the hotel and checked in.  It really was a very nice place, very clean and comfortable.  And I asked if I could check out one of their ‘suites’ in case I wanted to stay there the next time.  It was VERY luxurious, and I think in the off seasons, it was pretty reasonable.  It is a little close to ‘the big city’ (Stateline) for my taste, but on the other hand, there WAS a Starbuck’s within walking distance, and it was only two blocks from the Lake!

Anyways, I decided I would write myself a schedule, so that I wouldn’t get stuck in one place, and/or fritter away the time.  I was really glad I did that.  So first spent some time reading and journaling.  I brought the book ‘The Rest of God’ by Mark Buchanan kind of as an afterthought, but it turned out to be the PERFECT book for this trip.  I really love the way he writes AND the thoughts that he expresses.  The Bible I brought was The Message, which I also love because it is written in present day language, and just brings things to life for me.

Well, I can see this post is getting a bit long, so I think I will end, and will write probably two more posts about this mini-retreat!